March 7 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter

On what happened after a strong first period:
“It didn’t seem like a strong first period in my opinion. That’s your opinion, and that was mine.”

On the strong five-on-five play until the third period:
“We couldn’t handle the Benn line and had nobody to answer the checking responsibility.”

On whether the forwards and/or defensemen were responsible:
“Goalie, defense and forwards. We didn’t have anyone that could handle that line.”

On whether there was a new look from a Dallas team that featured some new faces:
“Not really, I mean we’re pretty familiar with all their players. They have some kids in their lineup this year that are similar to our kids. They’re energy, hardworking guys and Benn and Jagr were too much for us.”

On what led to Dallas’ third goal, scored by Brenden Morrow:
“Stoll in the corner, on his man, Slava shouldn’t go there and Rob Scuderi – I’m not really sure.”

On whether there’s a concern over the lack of 60-minute efforts recently:
“Giving up four goals a game, you can’t win. We need better goaltending, better defense. Simple. It’s four goals in Vancouver, plus an empty net. We beat Nashville 5-1. Gave up four, have to score five in the third to win our last game and gave up four tonight. You won’t win any games.”

On whether playing three games in four nights was a factor:
“No, we had a day off yesterday. No excuse for it. I felt good. I’m almost 55. I felt awesome today.”

On whether there’s an advantage playing the same team twice in a row, as will happen with Calgary:
“I don’t know. I don’t know how it would…Well, I think we have to do that several times. It’s no different than a playoff series. We do it with Phoenix right away. We do it with San Jose home and home, right away.”

On whether he’s surprised that at game 22 goaltending is an issue:
“I’m saying we didn’t get good enough goaltending tonight.”

On the team needing to raise its save percentage:
“We do. It’s a stat that tells the truth. That’s one stat that doesn’t lie, right? Lehtonen tonight was at about a .940 or so. That’s a stat that always holds true…Goals against, save percentage – it’s a big thing. They’re both team stats.”

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